France

In Paris, Stewart Patrick analyzes prospects for a French proposal in which the UN Security Council would adopt a “responsibility not to veto” norm in situations of mass atrocities. Despite tremendous challenges in implementing such a code of conduct, he concludes that it is ultimately a goal worth pursuing.

Farah Pandith, CFR adjunct senior fellow and the first-ever State Department special representative to Muslim communities, put the January 7, 2015 massacre at the office of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in context, explain the appeal of violent Islamic extremism, and offer a long-term strategy to combat extremist ideology.

The U.S. has 9/11. Spain has 11-M (the March 11, 2004, bombings of the Madrid commuter trains which killed 191). Britain has 7/7 (a reference to the July 7, 2005 bombings which killed 52 people taking public transportation in London). And now, on a slightly smaller but still horrific scale, France has 1/7: the assault by three masked gunmen on the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, which left 12 people dead.

Ed Husain comments on the attack on Charlie Hebdo employees in Paris, France, arguing that “Islam and Muslims are secure in the west because of freedom of speech, conscience, press and religion. To attack those freedoms is to attack Islam’s existence.”

French President Francois Hollande visited the United States, from February 10-12, 2014. In Washington, he met with President Barack Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, directors of the IMF and the World Bank, and met with several American CEOs.

The French government published a white paper on June 17, 2008, which, according to its introduction, "substantially redefines French strategy in a 15-year perspective, embracing both defense and national security." On April 29, 2013, the government released its fourth defense reform paper, which freezes the budget, further reduces personnel and equipment in addition to 2008 cuts, and focuses on intelligence gathering, cyberwarfare, and drones.

Secretary John Kerry and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius held this press conference after their meeting on February 27, 2013. They discussed the Syrian crisis, negotiations with Iran, and terrorism in North Africa.

"Jihadists were already finding it hard to operate in North Africa before the Arab Spring of 2011. Since then their problems have become almost insurmountable: they thrive only in countries where Islamists are in prison, not where they are in the ascendant or contesting elections. As for Europe, the last attacks instigated by al-Qaida date back to Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005. Jihadism looks less like a rising phenomenon in the north of Mali than a force in retreat. The French intervention may well give them purpose and greater coherence."

CFR Experts Guide

The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.

New Council Special Reports

Campbell evaluates the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency and recommends that the United States support Nigerian efforts to address the drivers of Boko Haram, such as poverty and corruption, and to foster stronger ties with Nigerian civil society.

Koblentz argues that the United States should work with other nuclear-armed states to manage threats to nuclear stability in the near term and establish processes for multilateral arms control efforts over the longer term.

The authors argue that it is essential to begin working now to expand and establish rules and norms governing armed drones, thereby creating standards of behavior that other countries will be more likely to follow.

2014 Annual Report

Learn more about CFR’s mission and its work over the past year in the 2014 Annual Report. The Annual Report spotlights new initiatives, high-profile events, and authoritative scholarship from CFR experts, and includes a message from CFR President Richard N. Haass.Read and download »